The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government on Thursday slammed lieutenant Governor (l-G) Anil Baijal after he held a meeting on the status of CCTV cameras' installation in the city. The l-G's move did not get down well with the Government, which termed it as "illegal". The Government alleged Baijal of acting like a dictator and advised him to follow the Constitution.
It may be noted that installation of CCTV cameras was a pre-poll promise of the AAP by which they promised to make Delhi safer especially for women. The Delhi Government is in the process of implementing the CCTV scheme in the national Capital.
Baijal on Thursday chaired a law and order meeting of the Delhi Police and reviewed operational and functional aspects of CCTVs in Delhi, their utilisation, maintenance, feedback, progress in installation and future plans.
In the meeting, it was also discussed that the main purpose of CCTVs is crime prevention and safety. "If CCTV cameras are installed by different agencies without coordination with police in a haphazard manner, the whole purpose of installation of CCTVs would be defeated. A standard protocol for sharing of video feed with the police has to be evolved," said a Press release from lG office.
"locations which are sensitive, crime prone, have to be identified in coordination with police. It has to be ensured that there is no overlapping of cameras at the same location so that scarce Government resources are not wasted. There are also issues of privacy that have to be addressed," it added.
"lG shud respect and follow the constitution (sic)," tweeted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while his deputy Manish Sisodia said the l-G should not attempt to run a parallel Government. Sisodia alleged that the l-G does not have any power to call a meeting on issues, which are under the Delhi Government's domain.
"lG sir, pl don't be a dictator. This is attempt to run parallel govt in Delhi. Its illegal. U don't hv power to call meeting on issues under elected govt's domain (sic)," Sisodia tweeted.
"Under Constitution! u can ONlY express difference of opinion on decision of elected govt. Pl respect the Const (sic)," he added.
On the other hand, the l-G also took to twitter saying that he had directed authorities concerned to have an inter-agency group to formulate Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) for uniformity in installation.
"Chaired law & order meeting on current status of CCTV cameras in Delhi, including their O&M issues. Directed to have an inter-agency group to formulate a SOP to have uniformity in installation & address issues of privacy, security, feed-sharing, integration & optimum utilisation (sic)," tweeted Baijal.
Present in the meeting were Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and other senior officers.